Manila, Dec 23: The death toll from a tropical storm in the southern Philippines climbed swiftly to 133 Saturday, as rescuers pulled dozens of bodies from a swollen river, police said.
Tropical Storm Tembin has lashed the nation’s second- largest island of Mindanao since Friday, triggering flash floods and mudslides. The Philippines is pummelled by 20 major storms each year on average, many of them deadly. But Mindanao, home to 20 million people, is rarely hit by these cyclones.
Rescuers retrieved 36 bodies from the Salog River in Mindanao Saturday, as officials reported more fatalities in the impoverished Zamboanga peninsula.
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